Blomidon

What a great park. My sister told me I had to include it on my little wander through Nova Scotia. And she was right. This park is spectacular. It sits on the Minas Basin where the tides hit about 40 ft. I was pretty close to low tide as I pedaled along the shore to the park. Incredible mud flats went a km or more out to the water. You could see people 'way out on them...at least I think they were people...they were so far away. I passed a wharf that had big fishing boats sitting on what I guess was the ocean floor well below the dock.  I spent the day walking the trails, sitting on the ever shrinking beach...just watching the tide. From a distance it moves, but slowly. Get right at the edge of the water and it is actually moving pretty quickly. The tide was now coming in which was pretty cool. Watched a guy come down with his kids. They took there shoes off and left them up on the beach like you would if you were at Lake Huron...well away from the water and any wave action....except this was tide action. Out he and his kids waded into the water. It was kind of fun watching the tide come in and start to turn all their shoes into tiny little boats. Honest, I would have said something if the fleet started to get too scattered, but one of the kids noticed first. 
So, great advice from my sister....except she omitted one little detail when she told me about the park. As I approached the park....about another 3km....you could see a huge cliff with a clearing at the top.  I thought...no way.  I kept getting closer along the nice flat shoreline and that cliff kept getting closer and bigger...but...no way. Rounded a corner and there was the Park....whew....I'm here...rode through the gates, around another corner...OMG.....nothing but hill. For those of you from London think Grosvenor hill or Harris Park hill and make them steeper.....and longer. Turns out the road to the campground goes up over 200 metres in just short of 2k. And I'm on a bike with a 15 lb trailer, a 30lb load and a few extra emergency provisions I had purchased at a little store in the last town before Blomidon....things like a 2L Pepsi, peanut butter and Pringles. Maybe it was a good thing my sister didn't tell me about the hill.
Thank goodness for the granny granny gear on my touring bike. It was all I could do to keep moving forward. Actually did go sideways a couple of times just to catch my breath. No way I was walking. And I made it. And I loved it. It will be one of the highlights of the trip. Me and my bike at the Blomidon Provincial Park!!!
Some of you may have figured out as well that my little walks on the trail were up and down that cliff. To get to the water there was only one way to go...down...and no way I was taking the bike. The trails down to the water were wooded technical trails with a couple of lookouts. Spectacular. So I'm staying an extra day.....for a lot of reasons. The park is awesome and I want to experience more of it. I'm a little tired although I won't get a lot of rest exploring the park today...and frankly I'm a little scared about the descent on the bike. In the aero position I'm sure I could hit 80 to 90 km/hr. I don't think I'll try. Right now I'm just glad I had my brake pads replaced in Halifax.